THE NEW CANADIAN
Wednesday, Qct, I2|
/f� Indtptndtnt J*pa**tt-E*glhb Org**. Published on Wednesday and Satocday of each week as a medium of btpreauoA and news-outlet
among those of Japanese origin in Canada*
Taya Takata ,,�� . Takakhi Usaesoki . Kaa Mori ,, ;.� , . 479 Qaeen St. W.
Editor.
Section Bfitor
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Wednesday, Oct. 12, 1949
THE CANADIAN NISEI IN JAPAN
The problem of the Canadian Nisei in Japan who desire to return to the land of their birth is the direct concern of Japanese Canadians who are fortunate to be residing in Canada, It is to us that they must appeal for assistance in regaining their Canadian domicile. ;
There is an estimated 3,000 Canadian-born Nisei at present in Japan. Just exactly how many of them are actually seeking to return is not known but the number-is quite substantial.
Many of themohave relatives and friends in Canada who are sponsoring their return, that is, paying for their passage back as well as providing-for them upon: their return. This is how those who have returned to Canada since the conclusion of the War, numbering more than a hundred, have been able to come back.
However, there are those less fortunate who fyave no one in Canada who is able to sponsor their return. It does not seem likely nor possible that a special welfare agency can be set up amongst the Japanese Canadians, as in UiQ case of.certain .other racial groups, to assist these strandees however other possible recourses to aid them financially should be studied.
One method worthy of consideration is to interest well-to-do Canadians who are seeking help to sponsor one or more of thescxstrandees. In return, the assisted strandee would render service to the sponsor for a specified period if time and would repay the sponsor, though not necessarily entirely' through service.
We do not endorse this method without reservations for should there be no proper surveillance and scrupulous pro-investigation of the prospective sponsor, it could be a detrimental practise involving employer-employee relations. However it is a workable plait
Then there arc the Nisei who are considered to have forfeited their Canadian citizenship status and thereby are not rei-dmissible to Canada. There are two such .groups, those who served in the Japanese armed forces and those who accompanied their parents to Japan on the wartime exchange ships.
Those who joined the Japanese army did not do so an their own volition but were conscripted as the result of Japanese law. While in the eyes of the Canadian Government they are considered to have acted disloyally for having served an enemy, they had no choice.
It is timely to note here that this summer, a United States federal court ruled that one. Yoshiro Shibata, an American-born conscripted into the Japanese army, did not lose his American citizenship as the result of "his forced service. The ruling stated that he was unable to make any protest at the time and refusal to join would have resulted in serious physical punishment.
Those who went to Japan on the exchange ships during the war accompanied their parents. Most of these Nisei were, at the time, minor?, who had no alternative than to go with their parents. Vet "they have been deprived of their birthright arM are unable to return to Oaa^ada.
Neither cases are hopeless, the doors are not compv letely closed to their re-entry. The JCCA is exerting every effort to bring this mattor to the attention of the Canadian Government
It is hoped that the Government will jrive sympathetic consideration to these strandees.
Your Ugal
Problems
Qwtisas About Property
Question: I am buying a house, and the real estate agent suggests-4he vendor's lawyer. Is this a good plan?
Answer: Usually such a course is not the best, because there is a conflict of interest: that is, the lawyer has both parties to satisfy, and this is done with difficulty whehe. he is acting for both parties.
Question: I am selling a house, and the Agent has* given me an agreement to sign, as to commission. Must I pay him his commission if a purchaser gives a deposit but fails to pay the complete down payment?
Answer: This is a very difficult point. It depends upon the contract. The safest thing to do to prevent this happening is to add to the agreement, "Provided no com mission shall be payable, unless the agent intro-duces a purchaser who completes the purchase." .
TkeWeMy Habit
By Toyo Takata
What namea are most popular with Nisei parents?
Going through a stack of birth announcements, we find that they are f oresaking the short, common ones for something a little more "haikara", something which is more phonetically pleasant.
If their .offspring is a son, they'll give consideration to Dennis, Wayne, Douglas, Ronald, Steven, or Brian, If they are blessed with a baby girl, then it could be Marilyn, Diane, Linda, Susan, Carol, Gail or perhaps Sandra. That's the conclusion reached after gleaning the stork columns of many back numbers, for. these are some of the more popular English appellations that Nisei fathers and mothers are calling their Sansei children.
We are now wondering if these names are being a little overused. Just try and recall the names of the children of your Nisei friends, and; we're sure a good number of them are called
Unitarianism, a Dynamic Religion for Life
By M. HOSHIKO
. Many Niseis may be Unitarians, although they may not have heard of the Unitarians. J. N. Booth states that if you have asked these questions then you may be a Unitarian:
"Have you felt uneasy because you cannot believe some of the orthodox church teachings and so you have said: 'If religion stands for these things it has nothing for me'."
"Have you lost interest in the orthodox religions because science and common sense have made their creedal forms and doctrines unsound ?"
"Do you feel that no. one church has all the truths of religion and therefore cannot properly dictate . what you believe in matters of theology?"
"Have you, while acknowledging that the Bible is a treasure chest of religious wisdom, object-od to' churches whVh blind themselves to its inconsistencies and in attempting to prove all doctrine by it, call it an infallible incontrovertible authority?" .
"Do you believe that, religion is better. served when enlightened reason and an open, mind are held superior to blind faith in certain beliefs, that an intelligent dedication to an emphasis upon a life of personal' goodness and sen-ice towards others is'-more, meaningful ; than mechanical rituals, imposed . creed* and unthinking emotionalism?'*
"Have you been disappointed to find that many religious bodies intolerantly label others as heathens, heretics or 'lost souls' whose religions ideals differ from their own?"
"Troubled by these misgivings.
have you said.Tguess I am not a religious person?'"
Many g<r tbr^ush this cycle of reasoning an i conclude that church-going brines few rewards. Organized re? ci - has r.-->t kept up nith the times, it fai5* to give credit to the truths f->und in science, in art ard in the shrine of every man's innermost heart.
Who were Unitarians ? Thomas
Jefferson, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, Oliver Wendell Holmes, Ralph Waldo: Emerson, James Russell Lowell, William Cullen Bryant, Nathaniel Hawthorne, Brete Harte, Louisa Al-cott, Isaac Newton, Charles Darwin, Joseph Priestly and.many others. Twenty out of the seventy-two Olympians in the Hall of Fame are Unitarians.
How do the Unitarians differ from others in their attitude towards creeds, Bible, Jesus; God, immortality and the nature of man's soul ?'.'��'�� . In Unitarian worship, the ideals and universality of Jesus are paramount for a full religious life.. Jesus is regarded not as a supernatural being but as a preeminently noble and inspired religious leader. Unitarians believe that the creedal doctrine of the Trinity is neither factual or significant in religion.
The Bible is treasured as a superlative document setting forth the growth of man's religious conscience and an inspiring guide for , religious living. They do not accept the Bible as the infallible or exclusive word of God.
Unitarians see man not as. an almost helpless victim of "original sin" but as a person possessing within himself unmeasured possibilities for growth in wisdom, character and happiness. Its emphasis is upon giving man a world�uniting intelligent faith which will build noble character and a dependable credo for exalted living.
They feol that religion should stress living the present life nobly rather than, place its emphasis t upon the thoughts and preparations for an after-existence. Most Unitarians feel that there is no physical measurable heaven or hell *f future existence.
Unitarians present a natural, unforced^ reasonable set of beliefs which can enter into, *tlengthen and enrich the daily existence of ctei>um�.
by one of the names in % list. A few yean heat. Susan might come runaW with "Mommy, therWtJ~ Susans in my class," Or Pop, why didntcha gite,' ter handle? When yells, 'Wayne' half thr our street answers."
Franks, Tains. Harry*. Georges, Roy? and Kens* names with the highest �_ cy among Xisei boys ^ female, counterparts we* Marys, Lilies, Roses, and In our. time, these narser tacked on to some of us, our Japanese calling. � hard to pronrrunce by our ers or Caucasian friends, these names were probably en because they were easily hounceable by�'. our. Issei or in some cases, they similar to some Japanese An example of the latter i or Amy. And imagine the f icuUy for the Issei tryiij say, "Marilyn*'.
Actually the number of with English names is less half. The proportion is with the younger-age grasj the older members of the label their younger brother? sisters with English nam
The majority of Nisei about two out. of three, to give their child both an and Japanese name, out with th-ee, two EngBsk erte Japanese. Only the al ones no� wadays 'stick to single Japanese name.
'But the days of the F and Harrys and Marys are p. tically gone. These narce-no longer in popular de'mar-i fact, they are going to be. unusual and rare names of new generation.
"If you want your little bj have a name which you ca*. at any time without hail'? dozen voices calling back, "l ing mother," then Abetter him. "Joe." We couldn't f1^ single Joe in our list ?f ~ announcements.
APPRECIATION
Frank and Aki Masuhara left for Vancouver.last week to express their sincere to their many f ?nds wh? kind to them'-! -;ing their -in Toronto am' -?'.� fArJ'~ which they re e<i. Tr.ej reside on 2<--'�!�:.-.?� .Vuh Avtv couver, B. (
Letters To The
Editor. The At- <
t learned rece^:.;-Harold McSherry- -v wife is jourr.--y:n? * Japan, was srvr: . rry out hi- rr:--: thmk it fitting � should c�ntr:h-:V" '3 that fund. I "� not much tir- : ling on Oct. I* 3ooxe p*-op-*
Rev. -McSherry"
B. C.
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